Booker: Premature' to say I'll run for US Senate

FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2012, file photo, Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. In a 1992 column in The Stanford Daily, his college newspaper, Booker wrote that he was "disgusted by gays" before a transformative experience with a gay peer counselor changed his views. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

NEWARK (AP) — Newark Mayor Cory Booker says it “premature” to say he will run for U.S. Senate in 2014.

Speaking Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press, Booker confirmed he has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission that allows him to raise money for a Senate campaign. But he told show host David Gregory the filing was a procedural step that had to be done so he could legally explore the possibility of running.

If Booker does run, he would be seeking the seat now held 88-year-old fellow Democrat Frank Lautenberg, who has never given any indication that he would like to retire.

Booker, perhaps New Jersey’s highest-profile Democratic politician, last month turned down the party leaders who wanted to see him challenge incumbent Chris Christie in the 2013 gubernatorial election.